Logitech says Google TV Revue box was a 'big mistake'

Company leaves Google TV as CEO labels it 'beta' software

Logitech is abandoning the UK-bound Google TV platform after taking crippling losses of over $100m on the Revue set-top box.

The manufacturer was the first to partner-up with Google when the connected TV service launched earlier this year, but Google TV has desperately failed to catch on.

In a frank admission, Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca told investors that going all in on "beta" software was "a mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature."

'Cost us dearly'

The company plans to run down its existing inventory of the Revue set-top box, already available for just $99 (£62), and will not release a successor of any kind.

He added: "We executed a full scale launch with a beta product and it cost us dearly.

"To make the long story short, we thought we had invented [sliced] bread and we just made them. [We made a commitment to] just build a lot because we expected everybody to line up for Christmas and buy these boxes [at] $300."

The Revue's failure and impending extinction leaves Google TV with Sony as it's only remaining partner in the venture.

If the Logitech box never goes on sale in the UK, there's only Sony Internet TVs, or one Sony Blu-ray player currently offering the service, which hardly leaves a lot of choice for UK consumers.

Things had been looking up slightly in the last couple of weeks, with Google announcing that Google TV 2.0 would feature Android Honeycomb, a better UI and Android Market apps.